 Guess who's home guys, Sadie This is my Sadie. She finally came home. Are you a good girl? So after being gone for almost three months, I finally brought her home. The other two dogs are still at my parents house Just because I don't want to bring three dogs home at once and have them like push me down the stairs So we're trying it out with my Sadie girl. She's super happy to be home. I'm super happy to have her home and she's so cute Good morning and a beautiful Tuesday to you people before we start our video. That's gonna be kind of serious I have a very not serious thing for you guys. I need your help naming something I got this picture in Indiana and I bought off the wall because it was super cute and I needed it And it kind of matches my house. So here we have an adorable cow picture You may note that there are a lot of pictures in my house of barnyard creatures because I love them one day I'm sure we'll own a farm. She needs a name and I'm not great at naming things and you guys are I loved so many of the names that you came up with my for my legs So let me know in the comment section down below what you think her name should be okay moving on so yesterday Katie Morton who is a counselor here on youtube with an awesome youtube channel definitely check her out I will link her video in the description down below released a video talking about chronic pain and I released a video talking about chronic pain a couple days ago in regards to my Use of narcotics and opioids over the last many years and so many of you responded Saying that you had experienced this with chronic pain too or you knew someone who did And so I wanted to talk a little bit further about that and talk about some of the things that she addressed in her video Because I connected with them so strongly and figured you guys might too and also add to a couple Myths and misconceptions that I have heard or I've experienced my own life So she covered six myths and misconceptions. I have to say that slowly otherwise I mess it up every time But I'm just going to cover the ones that really like applied to my own life So check out the video if you want to hear everything. She has to say she covers a lot of very educational stuff as well One of the coolest things that she talked about not really cool But eye-opening is the fact that over 1.8. I believe billion people worldwide deal with chronic pain to some extent which is Horrifying and heartbreaking but eye-opening in that I did not realize it was quite so many people It's very isolating To deal with chronic pain because most people you talk to most people you interact with Don't and so they don't get it and it's it's interesting to hear that there are really that many people Who actually deal with this and that's a much larger community than people talk about So the first myth about chronic pain that she talked about is that all pain has a cause This one I really really connected with because if something has a cause you think it must have a solution And that's also not always the case I felt for years like it was my fault like all the pain in my body Was the result of me doing something wrong I think part of this is because I was raised in a church that Preached the message that if you prayed hard enough and believed Anything would happen for you And so I really tried to like have enough faith that all my pain would go away and it never did And so I felt like I was failing. I felt like I was doing something wrong and I went to doctor after doctor after doctor and alternative medicine after alternative medicine Professional and personnel had nothing ever worked There was never an answer and I was just in more pain and more pain And it took eventually going to the Mayo clinic and them checking me out for 10 days I'm seeing so many doctors and professionals there, which by the way That's the coolest place ever when it comes to medical stuff. They eventually told me that yes, you know, you do have Things like three compressed discs in your neck and a cure email formation But also you just have chronic pain Like it just hurts like your neck and your head and and migraines all of that They just happen and they suck And there isn't an answer like there are things you can try and they gave me things To go home with and to experiment with over the next two years And I did those things and they didn't work and I'm in the same position that I was when I went there And that sucks But in a way it was comforting to know that it wasn't my fault that it wasn't something I was doing wrong And as a side note, this is all in regards to my head and my neck pain Nothing to do with my leg because I always knew what was going on with my ankle Like we always knew that had issues But there was so much more pain in my body that I needed to find A way to cope with so another myth that she talks about when it comes to chronic pain is that Pain is your only symptom like it's it's just hurting or it's just being uncomfortable and Yeah, that's definitely not true also for me A big part that comes along with it is just being so tired Like it takes so much energy to try to be a normal person like I talked about in my other video while Hurting while like trying to fight through pain Like if you've ever broken an arm or broken a leg or like been through surgery or anything like that like Try to be a totally normal person the next day. It's difficult. Like it's really hard try to You know be nice to people and hold on normal conversations and regulate your emotions the same way It takes a lot of focus a lot of concentration and you need a lot more sleep Because pain is exhausting and along with that I also get really dizzy and really nauseous with the kind of migraine that I have And so it's not just pain. It's not just hurting It's a lot more than that. The next misconception she covered is that you shouldn't exercise if you have chronic pain First of all talk to your doctor before you do anything. But for me Yeah, that is a huge myth because search every Feels like words because exercise is one of the only things that ever helped my chronic pain aside from like Medication because I think it like loosens up my muscles and also, you know endorphins help as well But if I couldn't exercise Things would get worse and that is a big reason why I chose to have the amputation surgery that I did So I could get more active so it would help the rest of the pain in my body Well, I think it's a really common reaction to just like want to stay still in bed when we're hurting Trust me. I get that because I feel it all the time and it's hard to fight against but When you can get moving even if it's just like a walk Around the block depending on what kind of chronic pain you're dealing with in my experience And because my doctors are like, yeah, that's totally cool. Go for it It's really really help another myth is that surgery is the best option. I have definitely run into this There is a decompression surgery that you can have for a keyary male formation Which is the brain compression that I have but I was going to have that surgery It was planned. It was scheduled. I shaved my head for it and everything the night before And it's not a super risky surgery But they cut open the back of your head in your neck and like peel everything back and do all kinds of crazy stuff And it's pretty freaky and I was supposed to have that at 22 And I was all set for it And it's a rough recovery and then I showed up to the hospital with my head shaved You might notice I'm still a little bit bitter about that I'll pop up a picture on the screen here And then I showed up the next day the day of surgery and my doctor came and was like, oh, didn't anyone tell you? I think we're going to cancel surgery today Because we're just not sure that this is the best Option because with the decompression surgery it can kind of go either way Like if it's not severe enough, it can absolutely still be causing problems But if they do the surgery it can make it worse and they decided that it was like right on the edge So long story short surgery ended up not being the best option for me And for the discs that I have compressed It wouldn't be the best option either the last myth that katie covered which You know, I'm not sure if I totally agree with or not is that chronic pain can't kill you pain in itself Can't kill you But I think it can definitely contribute greatly I think being in chronic pain All the time can absolutely add to becoming very suicidal like if you hurt Pretty much every second of the day all the time It can greatly affect depression and greatly affect your will to want to stay on the planet unless you have very solid ways of coping with it Of staying grounded and connected to like yourself and reality and the world and people around you so Pain in itself May not kill you if that is the symptom that you're experiencing And it's not like a disease that is attacking the rest of your body and actually killing you But it's something I think you definitely have to be vigilant about if you're dealing with chronic pain Take care of your mental health like really really really really really really as much as you can take care of your mental health because that's been something that's really important for me to stay on top of because Hurting all the time makes it hard to want to stay alive sometimes I'll just throw in a couple other things about chronic pain that I think are myths and misconceptions The first one that gets a little bit frustrating sometimes is Um, I'll just put it under the label of people who suffer from chronic pain haven't done any research Because it seems to be that when you express to someone that you're dealing with chronic pain or you have in my case I get really bad migraines often people will just start showering you with helpful advice That is meant to be helpful and there's also oftentimes extremely basic information that you've heard a million times before Um, if you're dealing with chronic pain chances are you have been motivated Very motivated to try to find a solution for it and random usually not very educated advice Generally isn't incredibly helpful and can kind of be disheartening sometimes Because if you're talking to people around you and they're like, oh, have you tried this? Oh, have you tried this and you're like, yes Yes Yes, I have tried all the things and still nothing is helping and people end up suggesting the same things to you over and over again And I know that I have ended up feeling like God, there's literally nothing out there that is ever going to work people who are dealing with chronic pain Are generally interested in their own recovery and are generally interested in getting better So before you make a helpful suggestion because I know it comes from A place of legitimately wanting to help I I usually try to ask the question Hey, do you mind if I make a suggestion? There is something I've heard of but I know you may You may not want to hear anything. I totally get that too another misconception about chronic pain is that you get used to it I think I could probably advocate for either side of this But I know that there are a lot of people who think that like oh if you live with something long enough It just becomes part of your life and that is true to some extent But pain never gets Okay, pain never gets just totally fine and totally normal and you don't even notice it anymore At least in my experience in my life I am always aware of it. I get to a functional level like I can deal with it I can carry on a conversation with you when I am hurting when I am not okay and the threshold that it takes for me to like Quit the day and go home and just curl up in a ball and be done is is way higher than it used to be But just because I experience pain all the time doesn't mean that it is simply a part of life And I don't care anymore. I don't notice it anymore I think that misconception leads into our next one, which is if you look like you're having a good day You're having a good day That's not true at all. Like I've said before you learn how to fake it You learn how to try to be a normal person you learn how to like put on a good face and Put clothes on and you know put makeup on or do your hair on days where it's bearable to do that And it can be hard When people are like, oh, you look great. You must be feeling so much better Or you look like you're doing great because then you either have to repeatedly say No, I feel terrible and like crush their day, which you don't do Or you just say thank you and know that inside you're like dying a little bit because you feel terrible And and none of that is true So those are some of the myths and misconceptions that I personally have definitely identified with when it comes to chronic pain What are some that you have heard or some that you have experienced or feel or know of? I would love to hear in the comment section below and of course, I know that not everyone watching this has dealt with chronic pain So if you haven't I would love to know what conceptions you have about chronic pain Whether some of those are some of the myths and misconceptions or if they're totally different I'd love to know what you have thought about it in the past because I love learning I'd love to hear what you have to say about it. Thanks for watching guys I look forward to seeing you in the next video and please take care of yourselves and have a lovely tuesday until I see you next time Bye guys